Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year, everybody! Couple of minor pieces of business before TV gets back to normal (relatively) starting tomorrow.

First, David Mills -- who you might remember from his writing for such shows as "NYPD Blue," "Homicide," "ER," "The Corner" and "The Wire," not to mention his own creation, "Kingpin" -- has joined the blogosphere under his nom de guerre, Undercover Black Man. A heavy emphasis on his love of funk music, and a lot of the early entries deal with the death of James Brown.

Second, what say you all on Dick Clark's continued involvement as an on-camera presence on "New Year's Rockin' Eve"? I'm torn. On the one hand, he invented the thing, his ability to keep appearing on it has been the prime motivator in his rehab, and in general I find it shameful the way Hollywood treats the old and infirm. On the other hand, the stroke has eliminated the smoothness that was the bulk of his appeal as a TV personality. (His canniness as a producer was his greatest asset overall, though.) Given my own experience with stroke victims, his speech isn't likely to improve much past where it is now, and his rhythms overall were so off that he was 3 or 4 seconds behind both the graphics and the crowd on the countdown to New Year's.

Ah, to hell with it. It's not like he's a Supreme Court Justice trying to hang on into his late 80s; this is a New Year's Eve countdown show, and it's his thing. As long as he wants to do it, I say let him.

17 comments:

I agree, Alan. Let Dick Clark do his New Year's Eve thing as long as he wants. True, we were a little uncomfortable last night as he lagged on the countdown. But then again, my husband and I were both happy to see that his speech had improved over last year. His inflections have started to sound like the Dick Clark of old. Having lost both my elderly parents in the last 12 months, I know that being on air makes Dick feel more like his old self than anything else could. And doesn't he deserve that?

If Dick Clark wants to do this every year, good luck, God bless and we'll see you at the end of 2007. I understand people are uncomfortable but he's not performing brain surgery and every minute he's on the screen, Ryan Seacrest isn't (or isn't as important). For that great national service alone, I think he should stay as long as he wants.

I felt uncomfortable watching him, even to the point of cringing and squirming. But he's not there for my comfort. The guy has earned the right to do what he wants to do, and the network owes him for all the years he carried the franchise. So if this is his wish, I say God bless him and good luck.

That D. Mills blog has an Amazon link asking people to pre-order "Mingering Mike." I'm glad to see that. I'd run across a reference to this book & forgotten about it. Mike sounds like one of those outsider artists whose life obsession is hugely ambitious & has been actually achieved. Like the Watts Towers.

Here's the Amazon link (is there an easy way for us commenters to attach a link to a phrase, instead to pasting in the whole bloody thing?):

I think he's earned the right, and people who are uncomfortable with it would do well to get over it, especially with an aging population (there is an enormous number of baby boomers who are on their way to being the elderly if they aren't already). Strokes are very common, and I think it's great that the network didn't sweep Dick under the rug. I think the amount of involvement in the show is just about right.

Kim- thank you kindly- she bore a resemblance to Melissa George, that's where I got the Austrailian connection. In fact, I thought for a moment it was George, which I thought was strange since Turistas is already gone from theaters.

At first I was uncomfortable watching him. But I think some of my initial reaction was assuming the network had dragged him out... Then, I realized, that this was his choice, and bless him for it. And it was fun to see him rag on Seacrest a little. I hope he stays well enough to keep on doing the countdown for more years to come.

I was going to say that Dick should probably give it up as he clearly does not posess the ability to handle a speaking role on television any longer. Then another poster made the best point of all. Every minute Dick Clark is on the air is another minute we are spared Ryan Seacrest's drivel. Point taken, GO DICK!!